Ponies of the Caribbean

Iced Flames walked around the docks of Tortuga, careful to avoid making eye contact with the shadier courtesans and their drunken partners as the pirates made merry without care or whim. If only he could find a good crew to join, he might take the first step towards wealth and infamy as well as finding the pony who killed his mentor, Captain Rogue Dagger. The stench of beer, sewage, and refuse was almost intolerable, and Iced was very well tempted to throw up over the edge of the dock.

With a sigh, he entered a quieter tavern (quieter being a relative term) and ordered himself a large tankard of grog. He sipped quietly in deep reflection while keeping a hoof on his purse to make sure nopony could cut out out from underneath him, though he doubted that there were any sober enough to attempt the feat. "If only I could find a crew," he sighed aloud, speaking more to himself than to any other pony in particular.

Indigo was drinking a glass of wine in a dirty little Tavern- not the way she would usually spend a day, but she wanted to go off on another adventure, and the Tavern was the place to get started. She, too, was a pirate of sorts, but did not care for fame or gold or rubies. She wanted the stories. She was a poet, with quite a small build, usually not the kind of pony you were looking to hire, but her good looks usually makes most ponies look past that.

"If only I could find a crew," said a stallion a few seats away from her.

"Well, if it's a crew you're looking for, would you think about hiring me?" she told him in quite a polite fashion.

Iced cast a glance over towards the mare who had called out to him. That was fast, he thought. Raising a hoof, he gestured for the mare to join him at his table while liberating some more tankards from a nearby waitress being hassled by some more desultory characters. "Hey, barkeep; if there's anything still edible over there, bring it here. There's gold in it for you," he called out to the pony behind the bar, casually placing a stack of gold coins on the tabletop.

"So, you're looking for a crew, eh? What kind of things can you do?" he addressed to the mare.

This was hard. There wasn't really anything she could do especially.

"Well, I am absolutely most dreadfully normal, but I do have an expertise with the art of speech, and getting ponies to do what I- or we, want them to do, so what do you say?"

Sugar was performing in the tavern balancing two chairs on top of each other with her nose. Ever since she was a little filly she have dreamed of adventure.

"If only I could find a crew," said a stallion not too far away from stage.

Sugar's ears peaked "You're looking for a fancy crew?, be right there!." She finished her act, did a backflip off the stage, and walked towards the stranger with a big smile. "Hello I'm Sugar Rush but you can just call me Sugar, I would be a perfect addition to your crew. I'm a master acrobat, and martial artist, and I was born in the northern lands, we basically invented boats!" She said trying to convince the stallion to take her on a adventure.

Iced eyed the two mares in front of him and thought, Why am I only attracting mares? Well, it's bad luck not to have a woman officer aboard anyway....

Addressing the first mare, he said, "Lass, if you can learn how to perform daily ship duties, I'm sure I can use ye as a negotiator of some sorts." Turning his attention to the other mare, he gave a fierce grin. "And I always like to have fightin' ponies. Alright! If you can prove you're worth your salt, I'll sign ye on to be my crew."

The two cousins named Rusty and Chrome Blade entered the tavern arguing about something extremely trivial and unimportant.

"Chrome, you don't understand! Salt is far superior to vinegar for creating a potion that's for AU use only!"

"I don't think you're sane sometimes, bub."

Well, Rusty was arguing about something.

Chrome pointed to the pony that was composed of various shades of red and blue.
"Ah think we should be talkin' ter him."

"A'ight, bub."

"Hey bub, don't steal me catchphrase, or you'll wish you had your tongue back."

"But I still-"
"Not for long."

They walked up to the stallion. Chrome rudely shoved an extremely unimportant pony named Jim out of the way and said to the red-and-blue pony, "The name's Blade. Chrome Blade. My cuz an' I would like ter join your crew, bub."

"Hi! I'm Rusty."

Rusty looked at his cousin, somehow managing a look of a sly, cool, calm, and aggressive pony, and not showing his intelligence- unless somepony looked into his eyes.

Chrome quickly studied the ponies around him he didn't know by name. All female. Liking the idea of a dearth of open stalls, Chrome awaited the stallion's response, or perhaps some sort of retort for rudeness from one of the mares.

Sitting at a dark corner of the tavern, Aero Dynamic had been watching the scene unfold silently. It appeared this stallion wanted to form a crew of some kind, by innocently asking anypony, mare or colt, who happened to be nearby. He was either very brave or very foolish.

From inside the black cloak he was wearing, he produced a packed smoking pipe. Aero struck a match against the table before applying it to his pipe. He smoked a little of the tobacco, the embers in the end lighting up briefly. The light was just enough to highlight his icy blue eyes, aimed directly at Iced Flames, watching him carefully.

Surprised at the new arrivals, Iced sized up the two stallions, one of which had the build of a blacksmith and could be extremely useful around a ship. His companion, however...

"I could use a strong stallion like you around a ship, since ye seem like the type to have taken up blacksmithin'," he commented, keeping his gaze concentrated on both of them (particularly their weapons). "Yer pal here, on the other hand... what's he going to do to contribute to this crew?"

I know I'm desperate for a crew, but I'll be damned if I accept that scarecrow of a pony without good cause, he thought to himself. He looked to be one who spent much of his times tinkering with things rather than doing them. Feeling a hard gaze penetrate his reverie, Iced looked behind the duo to see a pegasus swathed in black clothing staring straight at him while smoking a pipe.

Wonder what that guy's issue is...Iced asked himself in his head, now trying to shift focus between all four ponies in front of him and the one in the back.

"Ladies, what say you on this matter?" he inquired of his two newly hired crewmates.

"Well, I am just not sure, sir, I believe if they have some skill that they could offer than I don't see why not, but of course, that is just my opinion, and nothing more, this is, after all, your crew. Go with your gut, I guess," she told him, trying not to ramble on as she was accustom too.

Sugar jumped up and down in excitement , before hugging Iced half to death with unnatural strength. "Thank you kindly, and don't worry I won't disappoint!" She said before finally letting go of Iced. What's your name sugarcube?

(You don't know who I am?) An outraged Rusty just couldn't deal with how he killed a dragon in the Folly of the Elite, but nopony seemed to care anywhere, including Folly of the Elite.
"Well, cap'n sir, I make potions. Not only can I keep your crew healthy, but I can also use up any undesired things on a ship. I'm actually very good at making rope, improvising, and combat. I also don't get seasick."

Chrome nodded in agreement, "It's creepy. I'm glad you'll add me to your brew, bub, but Rusty here ain't tah be overlooked."

(And I've killed a dragon...)

An interesting mix so far, thought Aero.

From his corner, he continued to watch the ponies introduce themselves to their would-be captain as he smoked the last of his pipe. He slid it away again before getting to his hooves and calmly trotting over to the bar.

"A shot of AppleJack Daniels," Aero ordered, resting his foreleg on the bar as he casually turned to the recruiting unicorn. "What's your name?"

Iced rolled Rusty's qualifications around in his head before making a decision. "Alright, yer in. But if you prove to be useless aboard the ship you and yer cous' here can take off the first port we raid."

Turning to the pegasus who had called out to him. "I don't give out my name to anyone but potential crewmembers, if it suits you. In fact, I'll not be discussing my name at all until we've got a firm wooden deck beneath us and the winds to our sails. Names gives power over a pony, as I trust you'd understand," Iced replied cooly, freely looking the new arrival up and down and trying to figure out his intentions.

Turning to the rest of his motley crew, he proceeded to pass out small bags containing a small amount of bits. "A little payment in advance; you'll get the rest when we weigh anchor. When you all have arranged your affairs and drunken your fill, meet at pier 5 and tell the guard there that you're new crewmates for Il Torte. Make sure your belongings take up no more space than a sea chest."

At that, Iced stood up to leave the bar, intending to gather the rest of his crew from NPCs hanging out in the streets.

The Il Torte. Got it. Indigo didn't have any belongings but her prized bottle of wine that she was saving for...well, she didn't know yet. She took the bits and went up to the bar to get one last glass of wine before who knows how long.

"Il Torte. Gotcha" Sugar did not bring too much, only her priced sword, and a framed picture of her parents.

(sorry for the short post)

(I guess we're skipping over Legendary - new order is Iced, Sunny, Weedo, Fireseeker)

Iced walk casually up to an inn and knocked on the door where a unicorn with a dark brown coat met with him. There was a strange eyeglass contraption attached to his head, and his tan-red hair was blown up and smoking slightly as if from an explosion.

"Whirring, I've gathered up some potential crew members for Il Torte," said Iced seriously, trying to divulge the unicorn's thoughts as always. Whirring Gears was a brilliant and eccentric pony, so his thought processes weren't always sensible to Iced. 

"Yes, yes, of course - will we be embarking soon?" inquired the artificer casually as he fiddled with a small golem with his magic. With a small click, the golem sprang to life and Whirring set it down on the cobblestone pavement gently, watching as it whizzed away on it's business. 

"Of course," replied Iced, his eyes still following the mechanical contraption as it slipped its way into a nearby bar. "What exactly is-"

"Oh, Golem 05 is simply fetching my luncheon. I've been slaving away trying to get my equipment together for sea travel, and I haven't had the time to eat yet. Will you accompany me?"

"No need, I've had some salad at the bar," Iced declined politely, not wishing to know the unicorn as more than a business associate. While Iced agreed to captain Whirring's ship in return for taking him along, he could only wonder what a strange inventor that seemed perfectly willing to stay in his home wished to accomplish by using his own capital to buy a ship and get a crew to go raiding. "I'd best be going now - there are several NPC lads outdoors that I'll be needing to take with me to make sure the ship is in order before we go."

"By all means," Whirring gestured graciously with his hoof as Iced exited the room, leading his pack of NPC pirates towards Il Torte.

After Indigo's drink, she decided she needed to get going to aboard the Il Torte. She exited the bar, cautiously walking toward the pier. Tortuga wasn't the safest place, and she liked to keep on her toes. She made her way to pier 5, politely telling the guard she was a new crew member.

"You, part of a crew?" the guard chuckled. "I don't think so. Nice try, though. For a moment there I thought you were telling the truth," he said.

She decided to wait outside of pier 5 until somepony came and could help her out.

Sugar arrived at the pier, and spotted her new crewmate having trouble with a guard "Hello there, don't be fooled by her appearance, she is part of the new crew, now if you would excuse us we have important business to attend to " Sugar said with her most convincing "I have authority" voice before motioned Indigo to follow her aboard the ship.

With his pipe in hoof, the clocked figure of Aero Dynamic viewed the Il Torte from a distance. He leant against a wall as he smoked, watching the actions of the newly arriving ponies, as well as the crew to see how they prepared their vessel. Nothing impressive that was for sure, but certainly no damning problems that he could see.

Now he would simply wait for the captain to show...

It was around dusk when Iced Flames appeared with a motley bunch of NPC pirates behind him carrying an assortment of gear. The guard enforcers nodded to him as he passed, cracking the slightest grins as he fished out their pay for their work.  

Walking aboard the ship, he could see that his diplomat and his acrobat had arrived, but the blacksmith and his companion had not. The cloaked figure who had confronted him was also not present, although he had his suspicions that there was someone watching the activities of the ship even now. 

"Lads, move quickly to stow away the gear! We make for high seas at first light, so tonight we make merry and enjoy the pleasures that the land can offer us!" 

Cheers erupted from the crew as they exploded into motion, some of them working on the riggings of the ship whilst the others stowed gear away in the hold. Already, barrels of grog were being rolled out onto the deck for the pirates to make merry as Iced disappeared into the captain's cabin to plot out their course.

Amidst the activity, no one seemed to notice or care about the lanky brown pony who casually walked aboard ship followed by a mechanical golem who was hauling his stuff. Whirring Gears took view of the ship he had funded and gave a low sigh. "It appears the years have caught up to you, old gal," he mourned, wishing that he had not waited so long to begin this expedition. It was imperative that he find the materials he needed for his ultimate creation, and the only way he could do that was by taking it illegally for himself since many were beyond even a pony of his means and wealth. 

Moving past the activity, Whirring Gears walked towards the captain's quarters and disappeared inside, bringing his golem with him.

Just as he had thought. A rowdy, possibly uncontrollable rabble of ponies made up the large majority of the ship's crew, as well as a strange brown unicorn burdened with too much luggage. To many others, this would seem like a bad job. To Aero, it was an ideal opportunity.

Finishing with his pipe, it disappeared inside his clock again as made his way towards the ship. When one of the guards attempted to stop him, he merely raised a hoof, not bothered to slow down.

"Captain's expecting me," stated Aero, casually trotting past the stallion.

He stepped onto the deck and approached the unicorn that he recognised as the captain from their previous encounter. Aero merely stood across from him, waiting to be addressed.

Iced looked up to see Whirring Gears followed by Sugar and the strange cloaked pony from the bar.
"What's this, then?" Iced asked curiously, gesturing towards the three of them with a free hoof whilst the other held a map steady against the table. A protractor floated magically above it, indicating the angle of travel that Iced intended to take for their first target, the city-state of Salon Corbeau.

"I beg your pardon?" Whirring plopped his gear (snicker) on the floor and turned his head curiously to see the two ponies who had followed him in. "I say, security here isn't all that tight, is it?"

"Seeing as this is a pirate ship, there's no security at all," Iced commented dryly, setting down his protractor and moving towards the new arrivals. Directing his gaze towards the cloaked pony from the bar, he nodded in approval. "The name is Iced. Iced Flames. This here is the sponsor of everything you see before you in and on the Il Torte, an eccentric bastard who makes whizz-ma-jiggs in his free time." Now eyeing all three of them up and down, Iced asked, "So, what brings you to my cabin?"